Fuel-gas apparatus



'l NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. BAILEY, OF BRISTOL, VIRGINIA.

FU EL-GAS APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 478,549, dated July 12, 1892.

Application filed February 14, 1891. Serial No. 381,487. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. BAILEY, of the city of Bristol, county of XVashington, and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuel-Gas Apparatus, which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification and in the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to the production of acheap and convenient fuel-gas from crude petroleum-oil for the purpose of generating steam and for use in furnaces, sm eltin g-works,

forges, andfor heatingofces, dwelling-houses,

and buildings of all kinds.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of my specification, Figure l is a partlysectional and partlya side elevation of the apparatus employed in carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the diaphragms. Fig. 3 is a portion of one of the diaphragms in perspective.

In describing the apparatus reference is made to the drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon.

A represents a cylinder or vessel.

B B represent a pipe extending from an airpump to the bottom of the cylinder or vessel.

C C are diaphragms.

Fig. 2 shows the diaphragm and the position of the rows of projections I I.

W L is the line to which the cylinder is filled with hydrocarbon oil.

G is broken stone, gravel, shells, metallic scrap, or other loose analogous non-absorbent material, which is submerged in the oil and which fills the spaces between the diaphragms, Whose use is to divide the bubbles of air, causing more intimate contact and greater friction between the atoms of air and the atoms of oil.

H is a hot-air chamber heated by the exhaust-steam and, if necessary, by other steampipes, from which the air at the desired temperature is drawn and pumped into the carbureting cylinder or vessel A.

I I are upright pieces attached to the diaphragms, placed in rows across the plane of the diaphragms, so arranged that the spaces in one row are opposite the center of the upright pieces in the succeeding' row, which causes the air as it passes between them from one side of the cylinder to the other to pursue a zigzag course, as shown by the dotted arrows in Fig. 2. The diaphragms are placed one on top of another in the cylinder or vesu stone or other loose material in an irregular zigzag course, between the lower diaphragm and the one immediately aboveit, and through the material G to the opposite side of the cylinder or vessel, Where it rises through the aperture K at the second diaphragm, and so on from side to side of the cylinder or Vessel, pursuingaperpendicularandanirregularhorizon tal zigzag course through the broken stone or other loose analogous material until it emerges in the space above the upper diaphragm, from which it passes through the pipe F to a suitable holder. In pursuing the above-described course the air travels a great distance, and by means of the friction produced by being forced through the interstices between the broken stone or other loose non-absorbent material the particles of air become impregnated with the oil, so that a combination is formed, and the result is a so-called fixed gas, or suiciently permanent for all practical purposes, and which will not condense under ordinary temperatures, is highly inflammable, and produces when ignited an intense heat.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. A fuel-gas apparatus consisting of a cylinder or vessel filled nearly to the top with loose broken stone or analogous granular nonabsorbent material and crude oil, the oil submerging the non-absorbent material, an airinlet pipe at or near the bottom of said cylinder, and carbureted-air-exit pipe at or near the top of said vessel, all substantially as dcscribed.

2. In a fuel-gas apparatus, the combination, with a cylinder or vessel lilled nearly to the IOO top with loose broken stone or other analogous non-absorbent material and crude oil, the oil submerging the non-absorbent material, of a series of loose diaphragms horizontally disposed one above the other and separated a few inches from each other, forming a series of chambers for said non-absorbent material, each of said diaphragms having an aperture on one side and arranged in said cylinder or vessehwhereby the aperture of each alternating diaphragm shall be on the opposite side of the cylinder or vessel from that of the preceding one, an air-inlet pipeat or near the bottom of the cylinder or vessel, and a carbureted-air-exit pipe at or near the top of I5 said cylinder or Vessel, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN M. BAILEY.

Witnesses:

W. M. TEHAN, H. H. SHEEN. 

